MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Kennys Vargas, Max Kepler and Miguel Sano hit home runs, Tommy Milone beat his old team and the Minnesota Twins topped the Oakland Athletics 11-4 in a game that ended early Wednesday morning after a severe thunderstorm delayed the start by 2 hours and 42 minutes.

Marcus Semien hit his 18th home run in the second, but that was all the A”s managed against Milone (1-2). Winning for the first time in eight starts since Sept. 28, Milone finished the sixth inning for only the second time this season. He allowed five hits and one walk to the team that traded him to the Twins two summers ago.

Milone averaged 4½ innings over his first six starts this year. With top prospect Jose Berrios on a tear for Triple-A Rochester, the left-hander was likely pitching to keep his spot in the rotation.

Danny Valencia hit a three-run homer in the eighth to bring the A”s within 7-4, but Sano hit his three-run shot in the bottom of the inning to seal it and help the Twins (28-55) move ahead of Atlanta (28-56) in the race for the worst record in the major leagues.

Vargas, recalled Monday from Triple-A Rochester, went deep for the first time since June 22, 2015, with a two-run, two-out home run in the fifth against Sean Manaea (3-5). Then Kepler homered on the next pitch.

After a meager four-hit performance Monday, the Twins brought their bats to life. Kurt Suzuki, another former A”s player, had two RBIs. Byron Buxton had two doubles, driving in one.

The dark clouds rolled in early enough to cancel batting practice, but with both teams scheduled to travel Wednesday evening (Minnesota to Texas and Oakland to Houston) the preference on both sides was to avoid a doubleheader. So they waited out the heavy rain, swirling wind and thunder and lightning, and the tarp was pulled off the infield at 9:17 p.m. local time. The game started at 9:52 p.m. and ended at 1 a.m.

Paid attendance was announced at 16,938, the smallest crowd in Target Field”s seven seasons. The upper decks were completely empty and the actual number of people in the seats at first pitch couldn”t have been much more than 1,000. The Twins granted fans ticket exchanges for a future game because of the long delay.

ALL-STAR SELECTIONS

Oakland catcher Stephen Vogt was selected for his second All-Star Game. He had the night off.

Minnesota shortstop Eduardo Nunez was picked for his first All-Star Game. He went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI.

TRAINER”S ROOM

Oakland reserve catcher Josh Phegley, placed Sunday on the DL, had minor surgery in San Francisco to remove a cruciate ligament cyst on the inside of his right knee that was causing swelling and inflammation. He”ll be reassessed in 10 days. Matt McBride has taken over as the backup.

Buxton was back in the Minnesota lineup after two days off to rest bumps and bruises. He crashed hard into the wall in left-center making a catch in the game Friday. In the seventh inning, Buxton made a sprinting grab of Jake Smolinski”s smashed line drive and collided with the fence around the same spot.

Gray is 0-2 with a 4.42 ERA in six starts since coming off the DL due to a trapezius muscle strain between his shoulder and neck. Santana gave up only three hits in his last start, going 6 2/3 innings in a defeat by Texas. That was his lowest hits total since opening day, when a rain delay limited him to two innings.